Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters First "Suppressor Rifle"

If there is a better forum to discuss this, please let me know. I just ordered my first rifle suppressor and am looking for a factory bolt gun to start playing with it. I don't want to start threading any of my current guns just yet so I'm looking for rifle (and maybe caliber) recommendations. Trying to keep it mid-range on price for my first one.

Right now the Ruger Predator is the front runner in 7-08 or 6.5 Creed (for eastern whitetails). The Creed seems like a nice caliber but I hate to jump on bandwagons... I wish they had it in the 6.5PRC.

Any other makes and models I should be looking at? I'll probably go with a .22 centerfire pretty soon after the deer rifle.

What can did you order? And what kind of effective barrel length are you comfortable with?

I hear very little negative on the RAR models for the money.

I ordered a Banish 30 (up to 300WM) from Silencer Central, now the waiting begins. I would like to find a shorted barrel, maybe 18"-20" because it will wear the can full time, but it seems like 22" is more common.

I am very much interested in this topic as I am in the same position. I have the Dead Air Nomad 30. I have used it on my ars and am looking at purchasing my first centerfire rifle with a threaded barrel.



As far as caliber, I would not trade in any of my 270s for the 6.5 creed. But this might be an opportunity to see what the fuss is all about concerning the 6.5. I have my eye on the Ruger Predator as well as the Ruger American. Another option would be the Howa, although I'm not sure where it falls in line price wise.
https://www.legacysports.com/brands/howa_catalog/hogue-rifle/

Pick whichever rifle you like and can afford. A 6.5 and 7mm08 would be ideal for a suppressor, but i prefer .30 calibers. 18 to 20 inch barrel would be the longest length with a can in a hunting situation. If a range gun only, then go as long of barrel as you want. Ive been wanting a ar in 308 with a suppressor. I enjoyed shooting a 300 win mag with a thunderbeast suppressor.

Suppressors work best with calibers of lower velocity, if you actually want SOUMD SUPPRESSION? My favorite "hog rifle" is a Comtemder .44 mag with 14" suppressed barrel and a carbine stock.With heavy for caliber bullets, 300 - 335 gr, at sub sonic velocity, I get a fairly quiet short range weapon with very good knock down power. Full power .44 mag ammo is quite a bit louder than the sub sonics.

Mike Holmes

I'm in the same spot and just received my Omega Harvestor (7 month wait) and I've been playing with it on my AR and with subsonic .300 blackout loads but I'm interested in setting up a more serious hunting rifle.

CF User Roof has used his suppressor on a Tikka T3 in .308 with good results for some time now. I sold my .308 and all the loading stuff some time ago but tempted by that in a 7-08 as fully stocked with loading supplies. Looking at the T3x lite rougheck.

Tikka CTR in .308, or 6.5 if you must. I believe they are making them in other calibers this year. I ran mine suppressed in the GAP Grind PRS competition with factory loaded Federal GMM 175 gr matchkings. Shot with a Burris XTR II 5-25x50mm SCR MOA scope. Supersonic to 1147 yards, which was good since there was one target at 1100. I beat 87 other Ams with it and it was my 1st competition.

I bought a cheap Savage Hog Hunter in 308. I was amazed how accurate it was with full power loads, 3/4 groups with the first load of 150 GameKings. It opened my eyes to Savage rifles. I use Trailboss with 170 grain 30-30 bullets for suppressed rounds. Makes very little noise. They will kill pigs at 50 yards.

I have a Ruger American and CVA Cascade in 350 Legend; greatly prefer the CVA to the Ruger in all aspects, especially the magazine/trigger. It is very Tikka-like but a little heavier and thicker in the stock.

I had my CVA barrel cut down to 17 inches but CVA now offers a short barrel option in the calibers mentioned above. https://cva.com/product-line/cascade/

Oh, you NEED a 22LR suppressor too. The Ruger American Rimfire with 18 inch barrel is perfect and uses 10/22 mags.

I mostly use suppressed loads to kill pigs I trap during hunting season.

I am not there yet but am thinking about a Suppressor. I am reading this with interest not only in barrel length but after reading all the post am now wondering about hole size in the suppressor. From what I understand (once again, no first hand experience) the closer to the bullet size you are the more effective they are. I.E. a 30 cal. suppresser will be less effective on a 22 cal. bullet that it would be on a 30 cal bullet (all things being equal like vel.) Is this correct, and if so, is it better to size your suppressor that you plan to use on your 6.5 to a 30 cal. just in case you decide to buy and use it on a 30 cal. or buy another one for your 30 cal?

I went the “buy once, cry once” route. Purchased an AAC titanium unit rated 300WM. Will cover anything I may want to suppress out of my line up. Yes, the .30 caliber hole is not perfect for .223. But will meet my needs.

My first suppressor was a Dead Air Nomad rated through 30 cal magnum. The difference between 6.5 mm and 30 cal isn’t enough to worry about IMO. What you give up in larger diameter between 30 cal and 22 cal is often more than offset by the usually larger internal volume of the 30 cal can. Of course that also comes with larger size and weight everything else being equal.

How have you liked that Nomad?

I have a bunch of suppressors and only buy them in 30
Cal and they are still very quiet on 223’s and 204’s. People make way to big a deal over the size of the hole in the end. It’s easier not to worry about putting a 22 can accidentally on a 243 or 6.5 than the slight increase in sound. And it is a SLIGHT increase. Way more than hearing safe if it’s a can with decent internal volume.

As for rifles, I keep going shorter and shorter. I’ve come to think 18” is about perfect with a can on there. 20” isn’t bad, and longer just starts to be a bit of a pain for a hunting rifle. I’ve gone as short as 16” on a 7-08 and that wasn’t bad either but it does slow that cartridge down considerably.

I have 2 of the Dead Air Nomad’s and a Nomad L, all in 30 cal. Impressive cans. Very quiet. The Nomad Ti is by far my favorite for weight versus sound on a hunting platform.

I like these ideas +1

I have a Sandman that I put on a Howa 300BO. I keep it sub-sonic and have a couple of loads. One is a Sierra 155gr match and the other is 208gr NAB LR.